Romans 9:19-24

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Today’s commentary will be crucial to our understanding of everything Paul is saying. If you miss Paul’s allusion to Jeremiah 18, you will end up drawing the wrong conclusions from Romans 9–11.

We are in the midst of a technical and complicated argument Paul is making in chapters 9–11 as he examines and answers four related questions:

1. Why did so many of the Jews refuse to accept Jesus as Messiah?
2. In light of Jewish rejection of Jesus and Gentile acceptance of Jesus, has God replaced the Jews with the Gentiles as His chosen people?
3. Is there any hope that the Jews who previously rejected Jesus as Messiah might one day turn back and believe?
4. In light of all of the above, what is God up to?

At the time Paul is writing the majority of the Jews—Paul’s own people!—have rejected Jesus, while more and more Gentiles are coming to faith. This would seem to imply that God has abandoned His people. Paul is explaining why this is not the case.

In our previous reading, we’ve seen how Paul has explained that sometimes God uses certain people for His salvation purposes. The implication (which Paul will specifically state many times in his letter, e.g., Romans 11:15) is that God is currently using Israel’s refusal to accept the Messiah as part of His plan.

So, Paul anticipates someone objecting to his point:

“If God is using Israel’s refusal to accept Jesus as part of his plan, then how can God possibly hold Israel accountable for that refusal?”

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” [Romans 9:19].

Paul’s answer: Are you kidding me? Who are you to possibly assume you know better than God?

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? [Romans 9:19–21].

You cannot understand this passage unless you know the Old Testament allusions and “hyperlinks” behind it.

In the background here is Isaiah 29:16:

16 You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?

As well as Isaiah 45:9:

9 Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
or ‘Your work has no handles’?

The point Isaiah is making (and to which Paul is alluding) is that as the creatures, who are we to question the Creator? The Roman Gentile Christians were lording it over the Jewish Christians, assuming that the Gentiles had become the new chosen people, replacing Israel. After all— they might have said—if Israel is still the chosen nation, then why aren’t more Jews becoming believers in Jesus as Messiah? Paul has no patience for this kind of thing—if God wants to choose to bring in the Gentiles, then so be it. Who are we to question?

But Paul goes further and makes an even more explicit Old Testament allusion:

21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? [Romans 9:21–24].

Here, Paul is referencing the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, who was instructed by God to go and pay a visit to a potter. It is vital that we closely read the Jeremiah passage or else we will miss what Paul is doing in Romans 9–11.

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do [Jeremiah 18:1–4].

First, Jeremiah goes to visit the potter, and he sees that, as the potter is working, one of the pottery dishes becomes messed up, so he reworks the clay and turns it into something else.

Having shown Jeremiah this lesson, God speaks to him concerning His providential purposes:

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it [Jeremiah 18:5–8].

There are two crucial points here:

1. God is within His rights to pronounce judgment and destruction on a disobedient nation (specifically Israel, in this case);
2. BUT IF THAT NATION, UNDER GOD’S JUDGMENT, THEN REPENTS AND CHANGES ITS WAYS, GOD WILL RELENT AND FORBEAR RELEASING THE DESTRUCTION HE HAD PREVIOUSLY INTENDED.

To make the point even more explicit, God continues His lesson to Jeremiah:

9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds’ [Jeremiah 18:9–11].

Now, God makes the related but opposite point to that above:

1. If God has promised blessing and life to a nation because of its obedience,
2. But if that nation then subsequently turns from life and begins to follow after evil, THEN GOD WILL CHANGE HIS PLANS FROM BLESSING TO DESTRUCTION.

Friends, this is one of the most important points Paul has made so far in all of Romans, and the meaning is as clear as day:

God’s desire is blessing, and if people who are under judgment subsequently repent, God will change His plans and bring blessing, but if people who are under blessing subsequently begin to do evil, God will change His plans and bring destruction.

IN OTHER WORDS, GOD WILL CHANGE HIS PLANS DEPENDING ON WHETHER PEOPLE ARE OBEDIENT OR DISOBEDIENT, DO GOOD OR DO EVIL.

This is the plain sense of Jeremiah 18:1–11. God is warning Judah (Judah is the only surviving tribe of Israel at the point Jeremiah is prophesying, which is roughly around 600 B.C.) that, though the people have been disobedient, and that destruction is coming, it is not too late to change direction, and if they change, then God will change His plan.

With all that in the background, let’s look again what Paul is arguing in vv. 19–24:

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? [Romans 9:19–24].

God is the potter, shaping history. If the chosen people are now hardhearted toward the Messiah, then God—who has been extremely patient with the Jews (has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction)—has simply moved to share His mercy in a place where it will be received, namely the Gentile nations. The very fact that God is bringing in the Gentiles is a both a sign of his mercy—Paul calls the Gentile Christians vessels of mercy [v. 23]—and a confirmation of the warning that the prophets gave to Israel long ago, namely that their hard hearts would leave God no choice but to give them over to judgment.

Paul’s point in all of this is this: “No, God hasn’t abandoned Israel—He warned them for centuries and finally now God has decided to work in a new way and bring in the Gentiles. But, if Israel were to repent, He’d pour out mercy on them, too.”

This is a heavy message, both terrifying and encouraging. We American Christians need to remember:

1. God is expecting us to stay faithful and not presume we can abandon the Lord and escape the consequences of our apostasy.
2. But it is also not too late for anyone to turn in repentance to the Lord—God is eagerly offering every person the chance to receive mercy and move from death to life.

How seriously do you need to take #1? How seriously do you need to pray for point #2?